"We celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem under occupation. ... We are thinking of our people in Gaza, trapped under siege. ... Our prayers are with the churches and mosques of Jerusalem which remind the world of the Arab identity of our occupied capital," Abbas wrote.

"We are in the middle of a negotiations process with Israel, and we are committed to bring a just peace to the region, including ending the occupation of the Holy Land with the establishment of a fully independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital."